News & Op-Ed Commentary from The People's Republic of Moscow (Idaho)

U.S. household incomes grew in 2017

Some interesting numbers here, in spite of the spin by the Associated Press.

Specifically, income in 2007 matched that in 2017.

What happened between 2008 and 2016? I’ll give you one guess…

The income of a median U.S. household rose for a third straight year in 2017 as solid economic growth helped put more people into full-time jobs. But income inequality also worsened as the wealthiest Americans enjoyed even larger pay increases.

Incomes for a typical U.S. household, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.8 percent, from $60,309 in 2016 to $61,372. The proportion of Americans living in poverty also dropped for the third straight year, to 12.3 percent from 12.7 percent.

This is bad news for Democrats. A good economy is good for the Republicans.

The figures suggest that the nation’s low unemployment rate — 3.9 percent — is forcing businesses to convert more part-time workers to full-time status. And with the ranks of the unemployed dwindling, companies are hiring more people who previously weren’t looking for work. During 2017, the unemployment rate averaged 4.4 percent, the lowest level in 17 years.

The number of people with jobs rose by 1.7 million in 2017, the Census report said. And the number of workers with full-time permanent jobs increased by 2.4 million.

“We’re continuing to see that shift from part-time, part-year work to year-round, full-time work,” Trudi Renwick, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau, said.